Answering All of Your Questions About One Of The Best Deals Ever
I joined Movie Pass right after they lowered their price to $9.99 and have become a huge fan of the service.
I do not work for Movie Pass and I am not being paid by any company to write this. But after having discussions with all of my friends about Movie Pass, many of the same questions kept coming up over and over again.
My goal is to explain the service and answer all of the questions people have asked me since I became a member.
What Is Movie Pass?
Movie Pass is a service that allows anyone who signs up the ability to see one in-theater movie a day every month for only $9.99 (or less if you pay a year in advance) a month. I have often explained it as “Netflix for Movie Theaters” (which makes sense since Movie Pass was invented by one of the co-inventors of Netflix).
Where I live a movie costs over $10 at every theater in our area, so Movie Pass starts saving me money on my very first visit every month. In the last month, I have seen the following movies:
The Disaster Artist
Marshall
Justice League
Coco
Thor Ragnarok
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Roman J. Israel Esquire
Lady Bird
If I had paid for each other those movies independently, I would have paid over $80 but because I am a member of Movie Pass, I spent a grand total of $9.99.
Even better, most of the theaters in my area have the new and comfortable reclining seats. As convenient as it is to watch movies at home, I can see every movie in a very comfortable reclining seat on the big screen and with a professional sound system.
One warning, it doesn’t include IMAX or 3D movies. If you want to see a movie in 3D or IMAX you will have to pay full price for it.
Is Movie Pass Legit?
Yes, it is 100% legit. I won’t lie, the first time I tried to use my card I was totally shocked that it worked. Now that I have used a ton of times I have pretty much accepted that Movie Pass is for real.
How Many Theaters Participate?
Movie theaters make most of their money on concessions, so they have every incentive to participate in getting more people in every theater.
As I understand it, Movie Pass pays movie theaters full price (except for a few theaters where it has worked out a price deal) so I have no idea why theater chains would not want to be partners in this period of intense competition for entertainment dollars and when most people have a pretty great home theater setup (for some reason AMC has sued Movie Pass but the reason makes very little sense to me).
My only guess is that movie theaters want to make extra money showing IMAX and 3D movies and Movie Pass incentivizes avoiding IMAX and 3D movies.
That said, the theater can only make money on me if I walk in the door. Before Movie Pass I was seeing maybe five movies a year in the theater and after Movie Pass I am seeing several movies a week.
My guess, since Movie Pass has moved from 20,000 to 600,000 subscribers in a fairly short period of time, as its market power grows theater chains will have more and more incentives to be part of the Movie Pass experience.
Regardless, at least in my area, every single major theater accepts Movie Pass:
Cinemark
Emagine
The Michigan Theater
Quality Theaters
The State Theater
How Does It Work?
First, you sign up online at Movie Pass’s website. About a month later you will receive a Movie Pass Card (it is a Credit Card that only works in movie theaters and for which no bill is ever sent to you).
Second, you download the Movie Pass App to your smartphone.
Once you have received your Movie Pass card and have decided that you want to go to a particular movie at a theater that accepts Movie Pass:
Go to the theater, open your app, select the correct theater, select the correct movie and check in (scroll through the movies, find your movie, and click on the correct time).
Once you have checked in go to the kiosk:
- Select your movie
- Select the correct showing
- Hit Purchase
- Hit Credit Card
- Slide your Movie Pass credit card
It will say “card accepted” and your tickets will print out. Take the tickets and go enjoy your movie!
How Long Does It Take to Get Your Movie Pass Card?
It took about a month for my card to arrive.
Especially after they originally dropped their price to $9.95 they were struggling to meet the new demand (as I mentioned they went from 20k to 600k subscribers very quickly.
My understanding is that they have worked out the glitches.
Is The Movie Pass Model Sustainable?
To be 100% with you, I don’t really know (and while I hope it survives, it is in my interest to continue to use it as long as it stays afloat).
There are, as near as I can tell, three or four ways Movie Pass will eventually make money:
1. Making $9.95 a month on people who never use the card (the gym membership model)
2. Selling big data to theaters and studios
3. Selling big data to related businesses
4. I wouldn’t be surprised if they start partnering with other businesses to create special offers for members
The key to the viability of the Movie Pass business model is growing a large enough subscriber base to make the data increasingly valuable to studios, theaters, and other businesses.
How Could Movie Pass Improve?
The number one priority for Movie Pass is building the user base. Luckily, they offer huge value, so growth should continue to happen naturally.
But, if they really want to conquer the world, I think Movie Pass needs to get MUCH better at creating engagement and connection through customer service and social media (for a great model, I would suggest they follow @OriginalFunko).
Movie Pass could create real community between Movie Pass members who share a passion for both the product and movies.
I could see them successfully doing many of the things that Turner Classic Movies has been able to pull off (but on a larger scale and with a younger demographic).
Some of those things might include:
- National festivals with special guests
- Movie Pass Cruises
- Festivals in every city and town (connecting corporate partners with the Movie Pass community in particular cities)
- Creating special deals and prizes available only to Movie Pass members.
- Contests that allow members opportunities to visit LA, Movie Sets, Meet Favorite Stars
- Special exclusive movie content available only to members (why the heck aren’t they giving away a month of movie pass once a day on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc.?)
In other words, I think they have a real opportunity to create real engagement and loyalty. By making Movie Pass into more than just another service and turn it into a community committed to sharing experiences using the Movie Pass card they may not face as much churn.
Unfortunately, they are a LONG way from accomplishing this feat. Their customer service is sporadic and their social media accounts are not being monitored and pumping out enough content to build loyalty (Many days they send out one — not particularly innovative or engaging — message a day).
Hopefully, as they gain footing and get better at the nuts and bolts operation of the service, they will really build out their social team and start engaging regularly with their user base.
The Verdict
If you love movies, you should be a Movie Pass member.
If you think the theater experience, especially now that so many more theaters are offering large comfortable seats, is superior to home viewing like I do, Movie Pass resolves the largest barrier keeping us from frequent theater visits (cost).
When you find out a deal that seems too good to be true is anything but a scam, it is a real pleasure. Trust me, that first time you see the tickets printed out it will feel like you won some secret insider contest.
I can honestly say that I LOVE my Movie Pass card.
If you have any additional questions that I have not answered please feel free to leave a comment and I will do some research and update the post.
Josh is a blogger and freelance writer who writes about television, movies, music, politics, race, ethics, and whatever else seems interesting at the time.
